Why You Should Care About Sarah Palin

I'm sorry that I've been slacking lately in doing any new posts--I've been enjoying summer and trying not to let politics ruin it. But, I've still been following the news and it's past time to comment again....

Whether or not you like Sarah Palin, whether or not you agree with Sarah Palin, regardless of what you think of Sarah Palin, you should be very concerned about what just happened with her. (She announced that she is stepping down as the Governor of Alaska at the end of July.) John McCain yanked her onto a political stage that she was probably ill-prepared to handle. But I wonder who really is? I like Sarah Palin a lot. I don't think she's the salvation of the Republican Party (they may be irredeemable already), I don't think she's the next Ronald Reagan and I don't think she's the greatest political genius of all time. But there a lot of things to like:

1) She's committed to her Pro-Life stance and lives it.

2) She's not from within the Washington DC establishment, in any way.

3) She's not Ivy League educated.

4) She's Conservative first, Republican second.

5) She's fiscally conservative.

6) She's real--lives a real life, has a big family, cooks for her family, has problems within her family, believes in God, etc.

7) She's honest.

8) She's a woman.

9) She's just like a lot of you that I admire and respect.

If you're scoffing at the things I just listed, please read on. Because it is for the very things listed above that she is so hated by the media, Liberals and the Republican establishment. I will go through item-by-item and demonstrate their hatred.

1) Pro-Life. The media had/is having a heyday with the Palin daughter's pregnancy. They see her pregnancy as hypocrisy. I'm sure they feel a little that way as a family. But anyone who has kids knows that you have limited control on their choices. You teach them the best you can and hope they make good decisions. You also have to allow them to experience the consequences of those choices. Sarah Palin has been totally consistent on this issue. Her daughter carried the child full term and is now raising it. To further impress her commitment to life, she carried a Down's Syndrome child full-term. Many do not. She is proud of and loves Trig and is actually grateful for the lessons they're learning as a family because of his presence in their family. Palin is hated for all the above. I'm sure die-hard feminists simply cannot wrap their brains around a woman who has a successful career, a big family, a handicapped child. She's everything they supposedly represent, but hate her nonetheless because she's Conservative. Being a Conservative negates everything else in the liberal mind. All other successes and achievements are completely nullified by that nasty Conservative stance.

2) DC Establishment. Sarah Palin is the antithesis of all things in Washington DC. She did not attend a fancy school, she didn't belong to any country clubs, she doesn't have any family money, she has no long cultivated political connections, she doesn't cow-tow to lobbyists, she in essence, blows the mold to smitherenes. The media, libs and Blue-blood Republicans all hate her for those things. The core of her popularity is in these things and boy, do they feel threatened. If the American public were to ever wake up and throw off the shackles of the career politicians, what would they do? They might have to figure out a way to make an honest living. That is not an option, so therefore, the only option is to destroy Palin and anyone like her using any means necessary.

3) Not Ivy League. I grew up in the West. If you haven't lived there, you don't get it. (And sorry, Portland, Seattle and California only sorta count.) I recently moved back West after spending 11 years in the East (OH and PA). I love the West and I love the East for different reasons. But, I have to say that Easterners no more understand Westerners than they understand a remote tribe in the heart of Africa. People in the East do not understand the Westerner's attitude of leave me alone, get out of my way, let me be free, let me do it. I don't want your help, I don't want your governing, I don't want your nose in my business, I don't want you telling me how to take care of land that my family has loved for generations...without your help. They don't understand the space, the quiet, the idea that we take care of our own, the lack of government dependency. They don't understand how you could go to anything but the "best" schools. Well, it's called getting an education where you can afford to go to school. And if it's important enough to you, you might have to go to a "second tier" school. The idea that you are only qualified for political office if you went to an Ivy League school is offensive in many ways. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires an Ivy League education to run for political office. I will never forget the picture of Charles Gibson interviewing Sarah Palin. He sat there with his legs crossed, peering so far down his nose over his spectacles that he probably needed a neck brace after the interview for neck strain. He probably experienced facial pain for a week after holding the contemptuous look on his face for so long. Who is Charles Gibson? He's a journalist for Pete's sake. Who is he to determine anyone's worthiness to run for political office? Who is he to look down his nose at anyone seeking to serve the American people as an elected official? His job is to report the news. He, nor all his cronies, is not God. I could even live with it if he treated everyone the same way, but the shameless inconsistency and blatant one-sided-ness of these media types is astonishing. Al Franken anyone? Has anyone questioned his qualifications to be a Senator? And the same goes for the Libs and Blue bloods, they are not divinely appointed to determine who is "worthy" to serve in public office. That right is reserved solely for THE PEOPLE.

4) She's Conservative. Most politicians of our day hate people of any kind that are capable of taking a moral stance and maintaining it. Their ever-shifting opinions change with the winds of political expediency. They do whatever they need to do to be re-elected and maintain their personal power. Career politicians of all kinds have always hated principled people who run for office because they are made to look bad. Ronald Reagan proved, unequivocally, that you can succeed in politics by taking a principled stand. He taught people and worked to get them to understand his position. He NEVER compromised. It is that very thing that won him the greatest electoral landslide in our country's history (he won every state but one). He won over "Reagan Democrats" by the score because he was principled and was The Great Communicator. Sarah Palin has much yet to learn, but she has great potential to be Reaganesque and yet do great things in our country. Politicians hate and fear that.

5) Fiscally Conservative. This one almost goes without explanation. She believes in small government, lower taxes. Is there anyone currently in Washington who agrees with her? The deficit of trillions of dollars belies them all.

6) She's Real. Sarah Palin does not live in a bubble. She lives a life very similar to those that you and I live every day. She cooks dinner, buys the groceries, drives herself to work. In fact, while campaigning with McCain, Trig ran out of diapers. She got off the campaign bus, went in to Wal-Mart and bought diapers. That's what real people do every day. She doesn't have "people" who cook, clean, shop and live life for her. That is exactly the kind of person I want representing me in Washington because she gets it. When do you think the last time Ted Kennedy, John McCain, John Kerry or Arlen Specter went in a grocery store to shop? (Unless of course it was for a photo-op.) Do you really think they understand the kind of pain and cut-backs WE are experiencing because of their political gamesmanship and poor fiscal decisions? There ain't no way. Again, that's very threatening to their cushy set-up.

7) She's Honest. "What?!!", some of you are saying to yourselves. I just love the national media. They have great power for good or for ill. And if they don't like you, watch out. All they have to do is plant suspicion in the minds of the public and then, when they conveniently never re-visit the topic, we are left with the belief that the allegations must have been true. Alaska has a law, that any citizen of the state can bring ethics complaints against anyone holding political office. She had no ethics complaints, other than "TrooperGate", prior to her run for VP. Since then, they have been an almost daily occurrence. The media happily reports every ethical complaint against Gov. Palin and conveniently ignores the outcome. Just like in TrooperGate, she has been completely exonerated in every complaint to date. I wonder if anyone in the media has considered the possibility that her political enemies are simply out to destroy her? They have successfully wasted her time and money to the point that she felt it was better for her family and Alaska to step down. She has run up over $500,000 in personal legal fees since McCain called upon her, but on a income of just over $100,000/yr., she is being ruined financially. Don't confuse complaints with dishonesty. If it ever turns out that there is any truth to these allegations, I will be extremely disappointed and she will lose my support, but for now I see it as nothing more than an orchestrated effort to take her out at any cost.

8) She's a woman. I'm going to sound a little like a feminist for a minute. I'm a feminist to the point that women are treated fairly, paid fairly, can vote and have equal opportunity to do anything they want to do, within reason. (I don't believe girls belong on the football or wrestling teams.) I do not like man bashing and I don't think women are superior to men. But I do have to say that I can't imagine any man ever having to go through what she's has been subjected to. Historically, we have had a hands-off policy for politician's families, especially their children. In all the years I have been watching politics, I have never witnessed such a brutal and merciless attack on someone in the political arena. The attacks that have been unleashed on her pregnant daughter, David Letterman's "joke" about 14-yr. old Bristol, mockeries of her Down's Syndrome son are utterly unconscionable. Can you picture anything of this sort happening to Barack Obama's children? Absolutely not. And it shouldn't happen, ever. Where are her defenders? Where is John McCain? Where is Pres. Obama? Where are the feminists? Where is there a politician with power who has the guts to tell the media to lay off? Why do WE stand for it?

9) She's You. But don't you ever run for office. A lot of you that I know are a lot like Sarah Palin for all the reasons listed above. If you do run, be prepared to be brutalized in every imaginable way because you are so threatening to your enemies. Your enemies will be the media, feminists, people within your party and without. The irrational hatred and fear of Sarah Palin reflect on every one of us who is like her. What does that tell you about what they think of YOU? Trust me, they hate you just as much as they hate her. What they hope now is that Palin and everyone like her will not dare to raise their head nor dare to threaten their establishment ever again. Are you okay with that?